To think the school should have called me?

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

My DD is four (almost five) and in reception. A friend brought her home for me today and when she got home I saw that she had a huge bruise and bump on her forehead. My friend said she'd told her on the walk that she'd fallen over in the playground and hit her head on the floor.

The bump was unnaturally huge, and the bruise with it looked terrible...

She said she was tired (though she always is after school so i was unsure if this meant anything sinister) and she couldn't remember when she did it but that the teacher had helped her. I thought if it had happened hours ago she was probably fine, but if it was more recent then maybe I should get some advice...

I called her school and the teacher said they were completely unaware she had fallen. I asked her again and she said again that her teacher had helped her up. The teacher then remembered and said 'oh yes, that was about an hour ago, she slipped in some water'

The was sort of weird in itself, but I feel like they should have called me? And after hitting her head hard enough to immediately get a bump and bruise shouldn't there at least be some kind of accident book? Without the visible evidence I would have been none the wiser and I feel like it should have been my decision to bring her home or not. She was so upset and saying how much her head hurt, she hasn't been herself all evening.

AIBU?

[AgentZigzag]

You'd have thought an accident slip at the least.

But could the bruise and bump have developed over the hour? It's possible the teacher thought she hadn't done any damage as they're always bumping themselves on something or other.

Hope your DD's OK though.

[Mmmmcake123]

I would be very annoyed. I may be wrong but I think a head injury is more serious if a bump or bruise does NOT develop. So if a head injury occurs you should always be given a slip stating it has happened that includes advice, such as if your child vomits go to a and e. If your little one had not developed a bump but just happened to be sick this eve as a parent you might assume it was a bug. They need to sort their first aid system out!

[GruntledOne]

If it was a hour ago and there has been time for your dd to get home, and for you to talk to your friend and dd, call the school and post on here, the accident must have happened very close to going home time. I guess the teacher would reasonably have felt that calling you wouldn't get anyone there more quickly. I'm guessing you don't think it's that serious as you haven't mentioned getting medical attention?

[Senpai]

How big is "huge"? Are we talking the size of a fist or a 50p coin?

Bumps happen. As long as your daughter wasn't disoriented when she got up, ate her dinner/tea, and is able to answer questions about her day clearly, she's fine. Sleep easy.

I've fallen off the top bunk head first onto hardwood floors, and haven't gotten a concussion. The human body is designed to be resilient. It really takes an incredible amount of trauma to cause a head injury needing medical attention. Much more force than just slipping in a puddle.

I guess the question is, would you want them calling over a scraped knee too? It should be recorded for liability purposes, yes. But I don't think there's much to be done for it except giving DD an icepack, it's not really something to be sent home over though.

If it does bug you though, yanbu to ask the school to contact you next time your daughter gets injured just so you're aware.

[Dbsparkles]

You should have at least had an accident form in her bag to let you know. That's what happened when my son recently had a nosebleed at school, and also always had accident forms when he had any little bumps at pre-school. I would mention it to them on Monday. Hope she's ok.

[DesertorDessert]

Senpai agree with most of you comments regarding resilience if the human body, but having spent the night in hospital with a 6 year old who tripped over a stone and got concussion (fading in and out of consciousness, vomiting and CT scans) sometimes you are just unlucky with the angle you fall at.

Mary I'd have hoped to get an accident slip, but the trouble is bruises and lumps take time to form. So the teacher may well have helped her up, and not seen any damage, so assumed that it was a simple slip. Hope you daughter had a good nights sleep, and you have a fun Sat planned.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

what gruntled said. if the accident happened close to the end of the day, I can see why they didn't call, but an accident slip sent home would have been preferable.

[toastyarmadillo]

My dc school would have given a slip even if it happened while they were putting their coats on to go home. Head injuries should always be taken seriously.

[Senpai]

Senpai agree with most of you comments regarding resilience if the human body, but having spent the night in hospital with a 6 year old who tripped over a stone and got concussion (fading in and out of consciousness, vomiting and CT scans) sometimes you are just unlucky with the angle you fall at.

Well, freak accidents do happen. A friend broke her ankle tripping over a shopping cart wheel. It just looked like a girly stumble, and she doesn't have weak bones.

Generally speaking though, smacking your head on the ground isn't going to cause much more than a bad headache, just like tripping on a shopping cart isn't going to do much more than cause a little embarrassment.

OP's daughter was able to tell her what happened, eat dinner, and walk home without raising alarm. I would be incredibly surprised if it was anything more than a bump. She's probably awake now watching cartoons and eating sugared cereal in her pajamas, like she should be on a Saturday morning.

[DisappointedOne]

A toy wardrobe fell on DD last year. I got a phone call from her teacher "for information and in case you want to come and see her".

None of the other (multiple) fallings over got any sort of mention.

[lougle]

You should have got a note but no phone call, I think.

A bruise outwards on the head is a good sign -it's bleeding on the inside that causes problems. Your DD isn't showing signs of concussion and if she were, they would have contacted you. There's nothing you could have done at home that they didn't do at school.

[wonkylegs]

At DSs school you will either get a phone call or the teacher will speak to the adult picking up. DS got kicked in the face by a cartwheeling girl last weekend I got a phone call. He doesn't even have much of a mark but they still let you know.

[SanityClause]

I have always been told when my DC have bumped their heads at school.

In fact, at DS's junior school, they used to put a sticker on the younger children, if they had bumped their heads (saying "I've bumped my head") so that if they had a different teacher, or if it was lunchtime, all staff would be aware.

It's likely that the teacher didn't actually realise she had bumped her head, when she fell, though.

[Wolfiefan]

We are always informed of head injuries. If she had fallen over did the teacher not realise she had hit her head?

[AwfulBeryl]

We have a bump form in the dcs book bags if they have a bump to the head or grazed knee etc, one of my dts managed to trip over bang his forehead and cut it slightly, then fell backwards as he got up and banged the back of his head too. We got a phone call that time.
Could it be that the bruise / bump didn't come out till quite late in the day ? Maybe by the time it started to show they were busy getting children ready to go and the teacher who helped just though she a a little fall.

[YellowDinosaur]

A bruise outwards on the head is a good sign

^ this, often quoted on similar threads, is utter bollocks

As if a knock hard enough to cause bruising and swelling on the outside couldn't have the same effect on the inside . It may be totally innocuous (and probably is if she's otherwise fine) but can also be a sign of an underlying skull fracture, especially if it's boggy to touch.

Other worrying signs:

Loss of consciousness, either at the time or after
Vomiting
Severe headache
Double vision
Confusion or irritability
Drowsiness
Bleeding or clear fluid from the nose or ears
Bruising behind the ears or around the eyes
Localised weakness
Memory loss
Fits

Your child may well be totally fine, and hopefully she is. But I agree with you that the school should have told you that it happened. And if she develops any of the other symptoms on the list above get her seen.

[Longtalljosie]

Yes, DD2's nursery has an "I bumped my head today" sticker. I've always thought it was an excellent idea.

When we assess risk at work it's like a graph with likelihood of mishap on one side and seriousness of potential mishap on the other. So even if something like concussion is unlikely, since if it happens it's serious - it should be dealt with as a serious risk. And the fact the staff were hazy about what happened is exactly why these things should be recorded...

[herethereandeverywhere]

Our school has a 'head bump protocol'. They:

• record incident in accident book
  
• first aid if necessary (cold compress usually)
  
• inform parents by phone/email (usually to reassure that they have observed no adverse symptoms so far)
  
• give child a 'letter' to take home which is effectively the look out for adverse symptoms advice posted upthread^^
  
• child gets an 'I have bumped my head today' sticker which they wear for the rest of the day so staff and parents see an instant reminder.
  

You simply can't be too careful with a head bump and you need to be informed (not by a 5 year old) to make proper observations. I'd suggest to the school their current procedures are inadequate.

[YouTheCat]

We have bumped head stickers. It helps to remind staff to mention it to parents (especially if it happened at first break). Bumped heads get recorded in the accident book and, in reception, a parent would be called for advice on whether they want to collect or for us to monitor.

[Eva50]

I think a bump sticker is a great idea possibly accompanied by a note in their school bag to give details. I got a phone call one lunch time to tell me that ds3 had been "terribly sick in the playground and might be better at home". I went to collect him immediately. He wasn't sick again but I kept him off the 48 hours just in case. When I was getting his school bag ready to go back I found a note telling me that he had bumped his head at break that morning!

I suppose I should have checked his bag but my priority was dealing with a poorly child. As it happened it didn't matter but it could have done and a bump sticker would have drawn my attention to it.

OP as the teacher didn't even remember it to begin with it's possible that she thought it was just a little slip and didn't realise that she had bumped her head. I hope she's fine now.

[HelsBels3000]

YANBU - school should have called you. We send all children home with head bumps straight away - not worth the risk of keeping them at school should they go downhill.

[AndLeavesthatweregreenturnedto]

We always had this sort of thing with school.
We get slips and I have been called in when she didn't feel well after one. But another time, there was no slip, she said in the middle of supermarket, didn't fell well and had hit her head!

I would take photo of bruise and go in say you were shocked and what happened!

There is simply no way anyone at that school can make a call as to the nature of that bruise!

[AndLeavesthatweregreenturnedto]

btw

another time dd had a bump, later on she felt unwell and due to bump I called 111 and within mins an ambulance was at house assessing her.

[RandomMess]

I think it's likely the teacher didn't realise that your dd had actually bumped her head when she slipped over. They are not going to deliberately ignore a possible head injury.

[SuffolkNWhat]

At our school parents are always contacted about head bumps and an accident slip is sent home with a letter outlining what to look out for in case of head injuries.

My DD has had this a couple of times (I work in her school) and I'm told each time and given the paperwork.